Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $8.6\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$137$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${8.6\%} \times {\$137} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $8.6\%$ is equivalent to $8.6 \div 100$ $8.6 \div 100 = 0.086$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.086$ $\times$ $$137$ = $$11.78$ You would pay $$11.78$ in sales tax.